CBS officially announced the cast of the 29th season of Survivor, which will take place in San Juan del Sur. It will be the second “Blood vs. Water” season, with the entire cast being new players this time around.

Below are some interesting tidbits from an Entertainment Weekly article on the upcoming season:

Originally there were supposed to be 20 contestants total, but one pair was forced to drop out after a medical check-up just days before filming began in Nicaragua. “We lost a pair of women, so the way it works out is there are more men than women,” host Jeff Probst tells us. “That’s just the game. We don’t like it that way but that’s the way it’s going to start.”

Jeff Probst told EW back in May that the Redemption Island twist would return for this season, but then production scrapped that plan when they came up with another idea at the last minute instead — to bring back Exile Island. A twist that was introduced in season 12 (Panama) and discontinued after season 18 (Tocantins), Exile Island is where contestants were sent away from the rest of their tribe to live on their own in between challenges. Making Exile Island even more brutal this time around is that your loved one will be sending you there after a one-on-one duel. “You’ve got to go up against your loved one and here are the stakes,” explains Probst. “Winner gets reward. Loser goes to Exile Island. Where it’s going to really suck. And it’s going to suck because you put ‘em there!”

With the Big Brother season winding down, remember that there is fun to be had year-round at Reality BBQ! You can join the conversation about Survivor, The Amazing Race, and many other reality and non-reality shows on our forums. You can also join our chat where people get together and talk about shows like Survivor and TAR as they are broadcast.

Victoria has been having issues with her wisdom teeth and needed to be taken out of the house after she was found on the bathroom floor. She returned after being given an IV and now seems to be in better health.

2. Veto Draw.

Christine, Derrick, and Frankie were selected to compete in the Power of Veto Competition. Victoria was eligible to be selected as a competitor, but she would not compete per doctor’s orders.

3. Stay/Fold.

Cody was the Power of Veto, which was a Stay or Fold competition based on one of CBS’ new fall shows.

4. Scorpion.

As the winner of the Power of Veto competition, Cody won the right to have an early screening of CBS’ new show Scorpion. Cody was allowed to select two people to join him and he selected Donny and Nicole. Donny and Nicole were given a food restricion repreive for the duration of the show. They were able to eat pizza and candy as well as have soda.

5. Create Your Own.

Team America was notified that their mission this week was to come up with their own task, complete it, and then let America vote on whether or not they had done a task worthy of the $5,000. Donny pitched the idea that Team America should ensure the safety of all it’s members by saving Donny, but Frankie said it would be better to do a ‘fun’ task.

Team America continued to go back and forth on the mission. Frankie and Donny were both adamant that their mission would be easy money, while Derrick remained neutral for quite some time.

2. Outsiders Again.

A fan with a megaphone could again be hear yelling at the houseguests in the backyard. A number of messages were relayed, but the only one that was very audible was one saying that Frankie is the Saboteur. Caleb and Cody both heard the person yell this and brought the information to Derrick when they were locked inside.

3. A Donny Fan.

Christine and Caleb blamed the outside interference on a Donny fan who wants to try and save him this week by getting Frankie targeted. Caleb still seemed hesitant to dismiss the information so quickly.

4. BB Broadway.

Donny conceded and Team America decided to do a fun mission. They put on a play where the 8 people in the house pretended to be the 8 evicted houseguests called “House Swap”. The play revolved around them being in the “Diary Room” and answering questions about how they made it this far in to the game (as their character).

5. Chess Talk.

Caleb and Derrick played chess while Caleb spilled more game information to Derrick. Caleb said that he would nominate Cody and Christine at the Final 5 if the “Bomb Squad” were the last five members in the game. Caleb also agreed that it wouldn’t be a bad idea to get out Christine before Victoria because Victoria will never win a competition against them.

Most of the day was spent getting ready for the live show, and the feeds were littered with fish and Jeff Interviews.

2. Goodbye Zach Attack.

Zach was evicted by a vote of 5-0 during the Live Eviction Episode.

3. Returnee.

Nicole edged out Jocasta in the juror competition to return back into the game.

4. Single Head of Household.

Cody won the Head of Household competition that was held a few hours after Nicole returned to the game. Nicole was the first player eliminated, while Donny finished second.

5. Debate.

The Detonators and Caleb had a discussion about who they should try and send home between Nicole and Donny. Much of the talk was speculation about what kind of competition they would see next week. If they think it’s endurance, they would want Nicole to leave.

Early in the morning, Nicole made her pitch to Cody in order to avoid the nomination chair. She promised Cody that she would not nominate him and pointed out that she chose not to blow up Cody’s game when she was evicted the first time. Nicole said she was not working with Donny, but the entire plea fell on deaf ears as Cody told Frankie and Christine after the conversation that Nicole knew she was going up and possibly going home.

2. Cody’s Choice.

There was no Have/Have Not competition, so Cody was able to pick the Have Nots for the week. Cody named Donny and Nicole Have Nots for the week. Nicole volunteered to be a Have Not.

3. Expected Nominations.

Cody nominated Donny and Nicole at the nomination ceremony.

4. Locked HoH.

The HoH room was locked after the nomination ceremony, creating a lot of buzz that Pandora’s Box had returned. When the room was finally unlocked, nothing had changed. The houseguests speculated that production was in the room to fix the spy screen.

5. Big Boy Move.

Cody confided in Derrick that he would consider nominating Frankie if Donny managed to save himself with the Power of Veto. Derrick assured Cody that they would have the votes to send home Frankie and described it as a “Big Boy Move”.

Victoria has been complaining of pain due to her Wisdom teeth coming in. This morning Nicole found Victoria on the bathroom floor.

Feeds 1/2 11:12am BBT Victoria enters the bathroom. A few minutes later Nicole checks on Victoria and finds her laying on the ground in the bathroom, crying and sweaty. Victoria is talking. Nicole calls out for Derrick who runs into the bathroom and the feeds turn to fish.

Victoria was upset with Zach, do she destroyed the pink hat that he always wears by cutting it up. She was able to get away with this without punishment because the hat is technically hers, but she has been letting Zach wear it since the beginning of the season.

2. Pecking Order.

In an attempt to gain allys, Donny had a long morning conversation with Cody about the pecking order of the large alliance. Not aware that Cody has a solid Final 2 deal with Derrick, Donny pointed out that Frankie didn’t even consider using the Power of Veto on Cody and was set on saving Caleb right away. Donny tried to use this to open Cody’s eyes to show him that he needs to make a strategic move with the people outside of the alliance.

3. Wedge.

Derrick and Frankie talked about how Donny has been trying to drive a wedge in the alliance by planting seeds with Cody and Caleb. They also discussed how they expect Donny to backdoor one of them if he were ever HoH down the line.

4. Famous Target.

Zach revealed to Frankie that Frankie would be a big target moving forward and that he should campaign for Zach to stay. Zach said that the longer he (Zach) was in the house, the longer Frankie doesn’t remain the top target.

5. Discouraged.

Donny revealed to Zach that it was upsetting that people would willingly try and throw the competition to get him out. Donny also said that it must not be very entertaining television to watch a large group of people gang up one one or two people every week in order to try and get them out of the house.

Zach made another attempt to get Frankie to change his mind and want Cody out. Zach pointed out that Frankie has played the best game and Cody does not want to go to the end againt Frankie. Zach offered his unwavering loyalty in an attempt to stay. Frankie conceded that he is probably the biggest target remaining and he is okay with that. The conversation ended with Frankie saying that Zach should hope for the returnee competition because that is probably the only way he gets to be in the house much longer.

2. Same Talk.

Donny gave the same talk to Christine that he had given to Cody the day before. Donny tried to get Christine to realize that Derrick is running the game and does not have a target on his back. He also said that Zach staying would benefit Christine’s game because Zach would be going after Frankie and Caleb before he ever considers going after Christine. Donny then had a similar conversation with Frankie, but said that he would like to help Frankie get to Final 2. Donny said the only way any of them would have a chance at America’s Favorite is if Frankie is in the Final 2 and not eligible to win it.

3. Snitch.

After her conversation, Christine ran to Cody to spill everything Donny had told her. Derrick and the rest of the alliance were informed of this later on in the evening.

4. Creep Mode Cowboy.

Caleb has been dubbed the ‘Creep Mode Cowboy’ because he has been trying to sneak up on conversations throughout the house this week.

5. Quiet Night.

With an early lockdown, many of the houseguests spent time lounging around in the Fire Bedroom and the Living Room. They were all inspecting their microphone packs, finding old stickers from past contestants hidden under the current stickers.

Frankie and Zach discussed how they were already winners for being selected to be on the show. Zach said he won as soon as he got his house key in June.

2. Hiding.

Team America continued their current task by hiding clothing from each of the houseguests in a garbage bag hidden in the recycling bin, underneath a half full bag of recyclables.

3. The Search.

Cody and Victoria realized some clothing items had gone missing, so they began looking all over the house and made sure everyone knew that someone was hiding items. The items were found a few hours later, but the neighborhood watch continued through the night to make sure no other items were taken.

4. Saboteur.

As fingers began being pointed and the Neighborhood Watch was established, many people began to suspect that Zach was hiding the clothing items. Speculation became heated when they assumed he was a Saboteur, which they felt explained a lot of his erratic game and non-game actions.

5. Breaking the News.

Frankie and Caleb broke the news to Zach that he would likely be the replacement nominee. Zach made a last effort to avoid the block, but his effort fell on deaf ears. Frankie plans to use the saboteur speculation as the reason for Zach’s nomination, even though the plan to backdoor Zach has been in motion from earlier in the week.

An hour before the Power of Veto Ceremony, Frankie crawled into bed with Zach to talk with him. Zach pleaded his case to Frankie, telling him he should put up Victoria. Zach said that Caleb, Derrick, and Cody would not care that Frankie had a last minute change of heart if he nominated Victoria.

2. Zankie Over.

Frankie used the Power of Veto to save Caleb. Frankie then nominated Zach as the replacement with the expectation that the house will vote Zach out. Cody or Zach will be evicted on Thursday.

3. Weak Spot?

With Zach on his way out the door, he was very open with Donny about the game moving forward. Donny asked Zach if there were any weak spots in the large alliance that Donny could exploit. Zach revealed that Victoria is not in the alliance, however she may not be too useful to Donny. Zach then continued by saying that Derrick and Cody may be Donny’s best chance at numbers moving forward, however there isn’t much reason for Derrick and Cody to change up their current game.

4. Outsiders.

The housguests could hear someone yelling over the wall. “We love you Zach” and “Frankie, you’re disgusting”.

5. Top of the Hit List.

The Hitmen discussed that their top targets moving forward would be Frankie and Donny. Derrick and Cody both agreed that if the Battle of the Block ended, they would put up Donny and Frankie together in order to guarantee that one of them would face the vote at the end of the week.

With Donny safe, Derrick and Caleb discussed how they would rather send Zach home over Victoria. Derrick assured Caleb that Victoria is a number for them, while Zach will throw them under the bus intentionally or unintentionally down the line.

2. Transylvanian Goulash.

Frankie selected Christine and Victoria as Have Nots for the week. Live Feed viewers voted for the food to be Transylvanian Goulash (blood sausage, onions, and canned pumpkins).

3. Zing!

Frankie won the Power of Veto Competition after Zingbot paid the houseguests a visit. Much of the evening was spent discussing the Zings they were given.

4. Pairs.

Cody and Derrick discussed that the end of the season would come down to Cody and Derrick versus Frankie and Caleb, and that they should be ready to strike first. They agreed that they would need to get Frankie out before Caleb.

5. Distance.

Christine mentioned to Frankie that she is trying to make sure Donny does not group her and Frankie together, so she has been trying to get close to other people, like Cody. She doesn’t want Donny to nominate both her and Frankie together.

When Donny went to sleep, the Detonators had a meeting to determine who would sit on the block next to Donny and throw the competition. They also needed to decide which two members would be the nominees on the other side of the Battle of the Block. Since they could not come to an agreement, they decided to randomly draw by using skittles in a hat.

Donny and Christine won the Battle of the Block competition, ensuring their safety for the rest of the week. Christine attempted to throw the competition, but Donny was able to win it on his own. Derrick was dethroned, Cody and Caleb remain on the block, and Frankie is the sole HoH.

4. Another Mission.

Team America was given their new mission. It is their job to steal one personal item from every houseguest and then organize a neighborhood watch program for 24 hours to catch the culprit(s). They plan to attempt their mission after the Power of Veto Competition on Saturday.

5. Early Veto Draw.

The houseguests selected players for the veto competition on Friday night instead of Saturday morning. There was much speculation about an overnight competition. Victoria, Christine, and Donny were select. Derrick is hosting and Zach is sitting out.